


When Golden Skies Go Dark

by hslades



Category: Rugby Union RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-25 01:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21347683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hslades/pseuds/hslades
Summary: James has made it back to the World Cup after he had been lost for many years. After reaching the World Cup, how are he and his girlfriend navigate through moving back home and all the challenges the world throws at them.
Relationships: James O'Connor/OC, Owen Farrell/George Ford
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	When Golden Skies Go Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liv Farrell travels from the UK to Brisbane and has to get her affair in order during her layovers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After improving my writing I've gone over it again to edit and improve the story a bit.

Chapter 1: Travel

How could he be unhappy after the world cup, 6 months ago he didn't even know he would be in Japan. He went from being_ that wasted young talent_ to thrashing the All Blacks. It all had gone so quick that June. One call from Michael Cheika, an immense amount of hope, Brad Thorn's trust, a good conversation with Steve Diamond and a plane ticket back home.

Here he was now in a rental apartment in Brisbane. It had all seemed so good in June, go back to where it all began. Most of his Wallabies teammates his age were making the trip the other way around leaving for the money in France. It was weird he did not doubt that for him showing the world that he was not that James O'Connor anymore was important. Being back in that Wallabies jersey was important. However, that was done now, it was a new world cup cycle, there would be a new Wallabies coach to impress. He didn't even know if he'd be part of that team. Had he done the right thing? It was so difficult, should he search for his own house immediately, accepting that he would stay here for a while, or should he take Samu's offer and rent his house for the period that Samu played in Japan.

The worst of it all was he was all alone, all alone with his thoughts. Just like he had always been, before. It hadn't been until he had found her that he knew that this wasn't it. There was more. She made him want to become a better person. Now he was here, the place where it all went wrong and she was still there, the place where he became a better person. The place where he liked the person he saw in the mirror.

He couldn't blame her though. His transfer had gone through so quick. She couldn't make the arrangements in time. She had already let her summer plans go to support him in Japan. He couldn't blame her for taking some time for herself before she'd move all the way around the world, miles away from all her family and friends. He did that once, running away from all the expectations and the pressure. She wouldn't do it to run away from things in England though, life was good in Manchester, she would do it just for him. They say English media is a bitch. Those people haven't had the pressure of the Australian media and being their sole hope for a third Webb Ellis Trophy. Running away had been the right decision back then he knew now. However, if he could he would have run straight to her. Not to the party life in London and France.

It still took so long before the pre-season started. He was kinda happy it did for his body, it had taken quite a beating over the long season and after 12 years of professional rugby, it took a bit longer to recuperate. However, his mind couldn't wait to start again. Could rugby training and being the best he can be, be his replacement for chasing the highs as he did in the past. He just really needed her here, she was his rock. Could he just give her a call? What was the time? Fuck it, he needed her.

The phone rang a couple of times before she picked it up.

"Hey, babe, what's wrong it's like 3 am there," Even just hearing her voice already anchored him back to down to earth.

"Liv, it's bad, I haven't been alone here for this long, for years. So much has gone wrong down here and somehow I can only think of that." Saying this out loud to others would have scared the shit out of him, but not her. He could tell her everything she would never judge him.

"I'll push up the flight, everything but the house is fixed and mum already said she could help me out," He knew she was rushing for _him_. He knew she only came back from Japan just days ago she hadn't been home since the start of October.

She had only left him to watch her brother play the World Cup final. He could've gone with her family but that felt a bit weird. It had seemed like a bad joke: A shiteload of Englishmen and one Australian go to the World Cup final. Punchline: no one laughs and his girl only had more people in her life to comfort.

They did have a plan though. He would try to find a place for them over here and she'd get their affairs in order back in Manchester. However, he couldn't take it anymore, he wanted her to rush here.

"Tell me what I can do from here, I think doing something would help take my mind off it, as well," He wanted to be useful, scratch that he needed to be useful, even though he didn't know what he could do from down here.

"It's fine, Mum, has helped us all move a thousand times, don't worry, she could basically start her own real estate business." He laughed thinking about all the time's Liv, her parents and her brother had already moved around the UK and Ireland and it was true, her mum had orchestrated almost all of those moves.

"Have you decided on the house there already?" Ooof there it was the difficult question.

"Honestly? I really don't know, Samu's offer is great, his house is great, but what if we find a house for ourselves quickly, what will he have to do then? Or what if we don't have a house after he comes back from playing in Japan?" He did question everything after he was too long alone with his thoughts.

"James, babe, calm down, breath, renting is always an option even if it isn't Samu's house," She was his voice of reason "plus it's very normal to still have a house where you are from, my parents still have a house in Wigan and dad has that apartment in Dublin for work, no matter what you choose it's all going to be okay," he couldn't wait to have her here and just give her the biggest hug for getting him out of his dark place. "We could still have a house in Brisbane if we move somewhere else, it's all going to be just fine, I promise."

"Go to sleep now, it's late, I'll be there soon," now that his mind was clear he truly felt how tired he was. "I know, thank you for this. I needed this"

* * *

Flying to Australia was always a bitch. It just takes such a long time. There are so many hours in a day and all of them are spend flying if you fly to Australia. Seeing the rainy UK grow smaller and smaller from your tiny plane window is always a happy sight when you're going on holiday. It is, however, a bit different if it might be the last time you see this dreary island for a long time. Moving is hard man.

She moved across England several times. Down south when her dad got a lucrative work deal. All the way to the west to become her own person at university and then back to her roots up north. Just her luck to fall extremely hard and fast for the seasonal bad boy in town. Her brother couldn't believe it. Somehow where ever she went she found friends in his world. Her best friend was do-able, her brother liked him. When she first told him about James, though. He only knew the stories and the stories were far from great. Even though his opinion had changed over the years he still wasn't that happy of her moving all the way to Brisbane just for him. But hey the things we do for love, right?

It wasn't the thing she wanted to do during her Dubai Transfer but she did really need to talk to her brother. Moving up the flight had made it not possible to fly from London and catch him for a face to face talk about this whole 'let's drop everything and move to Australia for a guy' thing. Her brother was the only person in the family that didn't understand. Her parents were okay with it, they moved, they even turned down an NRL deal when her dad was still playing for Wigan. Her brother, however, was at the same club ever since they moved down to London as kids.

"Does this need to be over FaceTime, Owen?" She had texted her brother as soon as she landed in Dubai, saying she wanted to call she just didn't expect him to pop up with FaceTime a literal second later.

"I thought you said you wanted to talk to me face to face _before_ you left for Brisbane," he said with a smirk on his face.

"I know, I had a plan, it didn't go as planned, that just my life, Ow," she responded.

"Why did you move your flight up a week, Mum is already so busy with dad needing to be in Dublin more often, now she also needs to sell James' house as well," Okay maybe Owen was not happy about James whisking her away.

"He is my boyfriend, Owen, I love him, he got a contract offer, he has always wished to be able to play for his country again, you know as well as anyone that during a professional career, even though you sometimes want to think it's not like that, it's rugby before everything." He annoyed her sometimes with his overprotectiveness.

"I know, Olivia, you don't have to tell me that." He never used her full name, this was serious. "But you literally just dropped _everything_ overpaid lots for a ticket to go just a couple of days earlier, that's just weird Liv,"

"He's just having a hard time, Ow, you know what his coping mechanisms were. I don't want him to go through that again, he just got everything back," Her brother could just be so stubborn.

"I know, I don't want _you_ to go through that," did she hear that correctly?

"Do you mean you don't want _James_ to go through that?" She fished.

"You know I only tolerate him, as long as he's good to you, I'm happy." ugh he could be so annoying, "I just don't want you to sit there, without knowing anyone or having anything to do,"

"I can make friends, Owen, I made friends in London, I made friends in Exeter, I made friends in Manchester, I can make friends in Brisbane, I'll be okay Owen, you'll be the second to know if I'm not," that made him laugh, she didn't know if that was the reaction she was looking for.

"Second to know?" he questioned.

"You can be so dumb can't you?" she laughed.

"At least you're laughing again"

She had not even known she had let out some tears. "I'm going to miss you, Ow."

She heard some shuffling on his side of the call. "What's going on there Ow?" he took a second to answer.

"Uhm nothing really," he answered slightly awkward.

She heard someone else out of frame saying "Who are you talking to?"

For some reason, an unsure look went over Owen's face but as quickly as it appeared it had disappeared. "Liv, she's in Dubai on her way to Australia" he quickly tried to brush it off.

But she and the person in Owen's house had other plans at the same time as she said: "Whose that Ow?"

The person said "Ooooh Liv, can I say hi?"

That's when her brother handed his phone over and she saw his best friend through the age groups: George. "Heeeeeeeey George, how's England compared to Japan?" She'd known him for ages and questioned why she didn't recognize his voice.

"Weren't you here, like, 6 hours ago?" he laughed.

She talked for a bit longer with her brother and his best friend until she had to leave for her next plane: Next stop >> Singapore.

After she made it to her plane she did wonder why her brother had looked so unsure when it was just George in his house.

* * *

Having had no time to say all her goodbyes back in England, the Singapore transfer needed to be used to say goodbye to her uni and work friends. However, it irked her a bit that James hadn’t answered her texts in a couple of hours. Normally, this wouldn’t be anything at all, however with him in a bad state she did just really want to know how he was doing.

“Hey, why are you calling babe?” he sounded normal, that was good, she already felt guilty for assuming he had already made a bad turn. Her brother somehow always made her super weary of the less nice sides of her boyfriend.

“Uh no real reason, I’m just already almost in the right timezone,” she tried to make it just a casual conversation.

“Liv, how long have I known you, I know you’ve sat with something brewing in your mind that entire flight,” goddamnit was her voice really that easily readable?

“It’s nothing, I just had to call Owen and talk to him about the move,” Liv possibly sounded not quite happy.

“He’s still not my biggest fan?” James laughed, that’s good she thought, he’s good, that’s a relieve. “He’s just mega protective, even though he doesn’t have a reason for it. It was weird though, George was there, I would have thought they’d have seen enough from each other all these months.”

"I wouldn't let my little sister date the guy you started dating 2 years ago," he said and she was sure she could hear some pain in his voice.

"Hey, James, don't go there, I know you've changed but that person was special to me too, it was the person I fell in love with," Liv reassured him.

"I know, I know, and about your brother and George, Kurtley and Quade are welcome to stay over anytime they want in my house," He tried to explain the weird dynamics of rugby mates.

"Our house," Liv corrected him.

"I didn't know if you'd agree," he laughed.

"You're such a joker, aren't you?" Even though his national team friends were his co trouble makers in his youth they've all grown up over the years. Since they've been close so long, they were the only people apart from her that knew the nitty-gritty. "You'll be at the airport at 10?"

"Of course I'll be there" she wouldn't have expected another answer.

With so much time until her final flight, she decided to kill some time calling her best friend. Moving hours west of the rugby network she was kind of unwillingly part of ever since their move down south, felt refreshing at first. However, after one of her crappy dates with her crappy ex-boyfriend. She ended up sitting alone in a pub for a bit, waiting for her friends to come in when a group of well build guys walked into the pub. Of course, she chose the one pub in the city where the local rugby players drank their post-match beers. And of course, they chose to sit right next to her. That was the night she met her best friend and well it was once again a rugby player.

“So you are calling the whole squad to ask how different England is to Japan?” Her best friend answered the phone call with his classic cheeky tone.

“Ha-ha, so I guess, you talked to Owen already?” Her brother liked her best friend, many times he tried to push them into something romantic, that was however not who they were. They were just the best of friends.

“Yeah, he went on for like an hour about how he could possibly check if James treats you well from the other side of the world. After saying a million times that the lad had proven himself already, for years, it did get a bit boring.” Henry did immediately accept James as a part of her life from the first moment she told him and she could laugh how different her best friend and brother were.

“ Why can’t he just accept that I can handle myself and I know what’s best for me,” ever since she left her parents house he was protective over literally everything she did.

“Liv, he’s got time off now. He doesn’t know what to do with himself when the coaches say take your time do something you like, he’s like: ‘I like training 24/7’. When he’s back in the Saracens fold it’ll all be better,” he was right of course he was right, annoyingly, he was almost always right.

“I know, Sladey, I know,” if Henry talked to Owen for ages during her flight he might also know something about what George was still doing in London. “Just one more question,”

“I’m all ears,” He responded.

“Did Owen say something about George staying with him in London?” She just felt something was going on but she didn’t what it was.

“Uhm, no, he was just going on and on about worrying about you. I got bored pretty fast, zoned out a bit, but I can’t hang up on my captain, can’t I?” Henry laughed, ugh, she hoped Owen would be back in his rugby routine soon, his protectiveness already took over her entire life and the life of her loved ones.

“Weird, George was there when I Facetime’d Owen a couple of hours ago, and Ow was a bit weird about it too at first,” she explained.

“I don’t know what to say Liv, they’re just comfortable around each other, they were roommates the entire summer,” Did Henry know something about what was going on? She didn’t know.

“And you had several roommates? I don’t know I never really asked about what’s normal for you guys when it comes to sharing at Penny Hill or on tour,” She didn’t know, she only knew James had shared with other ‘UK Aussies’ just because the senior squad members found it funny to haze them a bit with English flags and ‘rain’ - a bucket of water over their heads. But she didn’t know what was normal in the England squad. Both Henry and Owen did not talk about what went on in the hotel during England camps.

“Uhm, well I shared with some of my Exeter mates and roomed with Manu at some point to work on our centre partnership, and everybody switched around really except for Fordy and Faz.” Of course, her brother had some traction with the coaching staff, but why would he use it to room with George?

“Sladey, sorry, I gotta go. I still want to get some pre-Australia supplies before I have to board again,” somethings are just too expensive in Australia, she wanted to shop, also because she kind of wanted to get a present for James, just to cheer him up.

“That’s fine, Liv, I kinda need to go and see the parents and Albert.” Of course, Henry, the family man, had to go see his family, “Will you please text your brother and me when you’re finally on the other side of the world?”

“Will do, give your mum a big hug”

After she bought a gift for James and bought herself a good bottle of Whiskey she was ready to board the plane.

* * *

He might have gone to the airport a bit too early because somewhere in his mind he had convinced himself that it would mean she would be there quicker. That meant that he was already here for 40 minutes and had been that weird person who sat alone at the local coffee shop, clearly waiting for someone but sitting there alone a bit too long.

He had already walked around the airport several times and got her a small wallaby stuffed animal at the gift shop. So here he sat, in that coffee shop, a freaking Wallabies player with a wallaby stuffed animal. He was really hoping no one would recognize him. He was so deep in thought, he almost literally jumped up from his chair when he heard his phone go off. He took his phone out of his pocket and read the message:

_From Liv: Landed :D_

He could’ve sprinted to the arrivals terminal but had to remind himself, I’d still took some time for her to go through customs.

A little while later he made his way to arrivals, his timing was perfect after just a minute of standing there his Liv walked through the door. Her face changed into an ear to ear smile as soon as she spotted him. She ran towards him and threw herself into his arms to give him a big hug. As if it was planned they said in unison “I got you a present,” he couldn’t help but laugh. For the first time since returning to Brisbane, he felt truly happy.


End file.
